After years of taxidermy sculptures, live creatures are en vogue. Darren Bader offered up an iguana and adorable cats at his MoMA PS1 show. Bjarne Melgaard hired two adorable five-and-a-half-month-old white tigers to model collars made by designer Ms. Fitz for his show at Ramiken Crucible. This summer, Nina Beier will present “a performance in which a live dog plays dead as it lies on a Persian rug” at Metro Pictures. No doubt there will be more animal art on the horizon.

To toast this trend, let’s take a look back at some of the most iconic works of contemporary art’s trailblazing animals.